anita, dog, and I went to visit the beaches outside of auckland, NZ. stunning fog-haze and stinging sun, more air-distance than I thought possible. I was hesitant to bring up lord of the rings and relieved when anita said, "you've seen lord of the rings right?" "yeah, of course." "THAT'S new zealand"

26.3.06

yeah, got a bit nervous and didn't eat for two days. as a result my performance was shakey and not very deliberate. henry took me around the city, the venue shaped like two giant fly-eyes (which, I learned, is also australian slang for testicles, thanks to darren hanlan), with a perfect half-moon above. still jet lagged, going to sleep unreasonably early and waking up at 3am, it all added up to the classic road-haze, thousand yard stare.

night safari: you go there at night, preferably around feeding time, and you stroll a trail while the animals roam cageless and free. my favorite bit was walking through the bat cage-- biggest things I ever saw, swooping down to your head, in big gusts of wind.

but it hasn't all been action-- I read, drink coffee, and pay virtual visits to the friend I left behind.

25.3.06

you can't tell from the photo but jack ladder is 6' 6". it was always funny lowering the mic stand after his performance. aaron runs spunk records in australia and rules the surf. jens is a singer-songwriter from sweden, also on spunk.

we had a delicious vegetarian dinner overlooking the ocean after tim (jack ladder) and I did an in-store.